The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange fell 0.70 per cent to close at 946.95 points. — VNA/VNS Photo

Vietnamese shares ended Monday on a negative note as market sentiment was weighed down by the unpredictability of both local and international markets.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange fell 0.70 per cent to close at 946.95 points.

The VN-Index lost total 0.49 per cent last week.

More than 174.3 million shares were traded on the southern exchange, worth VND4 trillion (US$172 million).

The stock market is under pressure from several key events this week worldwide, according to MB Securities Co (MBS).

Those events, including the US central bank Fed’s meeting on lending interest rates and the portfolio reviews of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), will make investors more cautious, MBS said in its daily report.

The US monetary policymakers will end their two-day meeting on Thursday, which is expected to deliver a rate cut and more in the future on expectations the global economy may collapse under pressure of the US-China trade war.

In addition, Viet Nam-focused ETFs will finish reviewing their investment portfolios on Friday and their decisions will create a mass overhaul across the two local exchanges.

Shares of PetroVietnam Power Corp (HoSE: POW) were added into the London-based FTSE ETF’s portfolio on June 6 and analysts have forecast VNM ETF will do the same thing.

Shares of PetroVietnam Power Corp (HoSE: POW) were up 2.2 per cent on Monday.

But other large-cap stocks underperformed and pulled the market down.

The large-cap VN30-Index plunged 1.01 per cent to end at 852.99 points.

Twenty-one of the 30 largest stocks by market value and trading liquidity in the VN30 basket declined while only two advanced.

Overall, there were 187 declining stocks on the southern bourse while 114 stocks increased.

The Co.op Food store chain under Saigon Co.op will open four new stores this weekend in Can Tho, Binh Duong, Long An and Ha Noi, raising the total number of its stores to over 400 after more than 10 years in the Vietnamese consumer goods market.